Succulent Delights
by Zerodone
Summary: When Hamuko met the six-year-old Minato, she thought his soul would make for a nice snack. But when she got a taste of it, the succubus immediately knew that boy was special. Just how special would show itself ten years later when the clock struck twelve.


Hospitals mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people. Some hate them because they lost a family member or are forced to stay in one for long periods of time. Others are indifferent to them, seeing them as nothing more than a place for sick people to recover. And of course, there are the doctors, nurses, and all of the other people who called hospitals their workplace. Generally, those people made sure that their patients survived whatever injuries or sicknesses were befalling them. However, despite the medicine being the best it had ever been, it still wasn't enough to cure everything. The elixir that could heal all injuries, cure all diseases, and fix all deformations had yet to be invented.

Naturally, when science and reason fail, people tended to seek out spiritually help. This was only natural for them to do so. Humans, more often than not, had a hard time accepting reality for what it is. Death, in particular, was an extremely touchy subject for mortals. They feared it; they hated the sheer concept of death and would pray to some deity or god to give them more time on the mortal plane. It was almost laughable at how much time humans wasted praying when they instead could do something useful, like, for example, arrange for the body to be taken care of or distribute the heritage.

But no, mortals were emotional, and more importantly, they got attached to things so quickly. And it was those two things that allowed a succubus to be successful in life. Hamuko was young by succubus standards. She reached her five hundredth year in the nineteen-seventies. To give a comparison, Hamuko was aware of demons that reached the age of three thousand and higher during that time period. Of course, despite being young for demon standards didn't change the fact that she had over 500 years of life experience among humans, which she had put to good use, in her opinion.

As of those past two decades, Hamuko had been a frequent visitor to those "establishments." Not that she got ill or injured or anything, but because hospitals were a figurative gold mine filled with potential clients. And by potential clients, she meant, of course, people who were knocking on death's door. When a mortal was pushed to the right state of mind, they would do almost anything to have one more day to live. Half of the time, it wasn't even the people who were close to kicking the bucket who called on Hamuko's services. It was their friends, lovers, family members, and so on who wished for their beloved to live a little longer.

One of those family members Hamuko was meeting today. Her heels clicked with every step she took through the almost empty hallways of the hospitals. It was around 10 PM, way past visiting hours. But that didn't stop Hamuko from making her way through the corridor to her destination. None of the hospital staff who had the late shift attempted to stop her or even acknowledged her presence. They simply went on with whatever assignment they had been tasked to do for the night.

When the succubus reached her destination, room 242 to be precise, she stood there for a second, checking if her clothes were in order. Because while she may be a vile demon, who wouldn't hesitate to commits all kinds of despicable and hedonistic acts, she also considered herself a professional. She wore a rather simplistic grey, office suite, along with high heels, a bit of make-up, and to add to the flare, the golden chain of a pocket watch was hanging out of a pocket. After swiping a few stray strands of hair out of the way, Hamuko politely knocked at the door. After waiting for a couple of seconds, she allowed herself in.

The hospital room had multiple beds lined up on each side of the room. However, only one was occupied. It contained a typical Asian woman was lying inside, the sheets covering most of her body. Only her head was visible to the world. Next to the woman sat a young man that Hamuko recognized as her latest client. It looked like he hadn't had much sleep since she last met him, considering the rings around his eyes. It took the man a second to realize who just entered the room, but when it clicked in his brain, he stood up quickly, eyes widened in surprise.

"You… you're…here?!" the man stammered in disbelief.

"But of course!" Hamuko replied in a cheerful tone. "We agreed I would arrive at nine PM, correct? Or am I misremembering something?" She tilted her head, cutely.

"N-no," the young man shook his head and looked to the ground. "I… I just thought… forget it." He muttered and looked over to the woman in bed. Hamuko, naturally, knew why the young man thought she would not come to their appointment. She had done her homework and found out that the man had pretty rough luck when it came to pretty girls and women: using him, using his money, lying to him, the usual drama.

"Well then, shall we begin?" Hamuko asked, spreading her arms. Seemingly out of nowhere, a small round and black table appeared in the middle of the room, along with two simple chairs. The mortal man jumped in surprise, accidentally hitting the bed the woman was lying in. She remained fast asleep.

"Holy…!" the man gasped.

"Not really," the demon grinned. "Take a seat, why don't you?" she gestured to the table and the pair of chairs.

The man shook his head violently before approaching the table. The succubus made a mental note that he took the situation better than the last time she had met him. Most of her clients still had minor heart attacks, even after the third time she made small demonstrations like this. Taking a seat herself, the human and the demon faced each other from opposite sides of the table.

"So then, first things first," Hamuko began, "have you made up your mind? Do you wish to take on my services? Or have you decided otherwise?"

The man in front of Hamuko didn't answer immediately. Instead, he opted to look back over his shoulder and towards the sleeping woman. "The doctors brought the news today," he spoke in a low tone. "Turns out they can't give her the treatment she needs. Something about her immune system." He turned his head again and sighed. "Said they would kill her if they went through with it. If she's lucky, she might be able to experience her birthday one last time."

At this point, he looked the succubus dead in the eyes. "So, yes. I will take you up on your offer."

"Excellent," Hamuko grinned and snapped her fingers. Again out of nowhere, a piece of parchment appeared in the middle of the table. Her client almost fell off his chair but managed to latch an arm onto the table before he fell off.

"Never get used to that…" he grumbled.

"You'd be surprised," the succubus replied, before moving the parchment towards the man. "So, here's the deal. I always take a little bit of a deposit, if you will. In this case: ten percent of your soul. After I have taken my deposit, I will work my magic, and your mother will be cured of her current afflictions. You cannot make any other deals with other demons, once you sign this. Although I would be very much surprised if you did come across one of my colleagues."

The man looked down on the parchment, which turned out to be a contract of some sort. There were two lines where one could sign, one labeled as "contractor" and the other as "client." All things considered, it looked very modern. At the very bottom of the paper were an address, general contact information, and even a company name? "Succulent Delights," it read. The same name was at the top of the parchment, accompanied by a company logo. The logo was the shadowy figure of a succubus in a… let's say compromising position.

"This… looks really professional," the man said, as his eyes overflew the paper.

"Why, thank you. I know some of my colleagues prefer to handwrite those things, and some still use wax-seals if you can believe it. Of course, wax-seals give everything a sort of flair, but I consider myself a woman who goes with the time and always keep up to date with technology. Now then, do you have any questions?" she asked.

The man bit his lip and hesitated for a moment before asking: "Will it hurt? The… soul-sucking, I mean."

"I could make it hurt, but I doubt you're into this kind of stuff. I make it a point to make the process for my clients as pleasantly as possible," she smiled coyly at him.

The man blushed just a little bit and looked down on the paper. "Uh… do you have a pen?"

Hamuko mentally raised an eyebrow. He was signing the contract as it is, without thoroughly reading the thing? She thought he was at least that smart. Because what she had told him was only a brief summary of what was written inside. Like any good demon that was worth her salt, she had placed plenty of additional clauses in there that could and would screw him over in the future. Nevertheless, she wordlessly produced a pen out of her pocket and gave it to the man.

She smirked as he put his signature on the paper. How did the lyrics go again? "Another one bites the dust." Turning the paper around and getting her pen back, she quickly produced her signature on the paper, thus making the contract binding to both parties. There wasn't any flair involved. No rune circles or anything like it was depicted in some media. The magic was not visible, but it didn't have to be. The important part was that it was there, and that was all that mattered.

After having signed the contract, Hamuko snapped her fingers again. A second paper appeared on the table, this one identical to the first one. "Your copy," she explained. "Keep it safe."

Before the man could do as much as touch the new paper, Hamuko had gotten up from her chair, moved around the table, and made it herself comfortable on the man's lap. Said man had a mixture of surprise and shock written all over his place. He sat perfectly still, as the blood rushed to his face.

"W-w-what a-a-are yo-you doing?" he stuttered.

"Relax," she giggled, tracing a finger along his chin. "I am simply taking my ten percent." And before another word could be spoken, Hamuko pressed her lips against those of her client. His eyes widened for a split second at the unexpected contact his lips made with hers. But just as this split-second passed, he relaxed, closed his eyes, and gave into the kiss. Slowly but surely, through this simple act, Hamuko began extracting the soul out of her victim's body. Not too quickly mind you, as she was a professional and promised no pain. And also not too much, as this was simply a deposit she was getting.

All in all, the moment lasted for about three seconds. When their lips parted, there was a small stream of blue energy exiting the man's mouth and entering Hamuko's. She allowed the energy to enter the body before closing her mouth. The man slumped back into the chair, breathing heavily.

"You might feel a little exhaustion for the time being. Don't worry. You'll recover soon enough. Now then," Hamuko turned her attention to the woman who had been sleeping through the entire negotiation. Although, you could hardly call it a negotiation, given that the succubus' client hadn't even read the contract. If he had, he would have noticed how screwed he indeed was.

Speaking of the contract, Hamuko still had to hold up her end of the bargain. She approached the bed the woman was lying in and stopped when she stood right beside the aforementioned woman. The succubus put her hand on the mortal's forehead and began removing whatever was threatening to take the woman's life. All in all, a five-minute job.

"Well, then, I'll be seeing you. Oh, and don't hesitate to call if you wish for some more… intimate services. Don't worry. You won't have to give another soul."

The man didn't reply. He was too worn out after having a part of his soul removed. This was not surprising. Most mortals barely held any spiritual energy nowadays. There was the occasional sweet apple, but if Hamuko had to describe the taste of this particular soul, it would be bland.

After exiting the room, Hamuko headed straight to the staircase, wondering if she should hit up the local club or maybe relax at home and enjoy a glass of wine. She wasn't even halfway through the hall when a door in front of her opened. Not one, but two nurses came out of the room, both looking severely depressed.

"It's like the child is a zombie," the first nurse spoke. "He doesn't eat, he barely drinks, and it's hard to get him to do anything."

"He is in shock, Hina-chan," the other nurse replied. "The poor boy lost both of his parents. And he's only six. He's going to need a lot of help in the coming days."

"Oh, dear, me. What about the rest of his family?"

Both nurses walked down the stairs and soon were out of Hamuko's earshot. The demon had stopped her tracks and listened in to their conversation. A six-year-old, who just lost his parents and was now a complete vegetable? Well, today's main course had turned out to be a disappointment. And children always had a unique flavor to them.

After making sure no one else was inside the hallway, Hamuko went into the room where the two nurses had come out of as quietly as possible. Once inside, she held her hand in front of the door and cast some magic on it. For a second, a purple pentagram appeared on the door before it became invisible. This should give her all the time she needs to get what she wants.

This room was designed the same way as the last one. The only difference was that the lights were turned off. And like the previous room, only one bed was occupied. Strange, last Hamuko had heard hospitals had a problem with being overcrowded. Perhaps it was a simple campaign to get more money from the state.

The demon's heels echoed across the room until she came to a standstill right next to the boy's bed. It may have been dark, but the light coming in from the window was enough for Hamuko to see every detail in this room.

Like the nurse had said, the boy was around the age of six, barely reaching up to Hamuko's knee if he would have stood up. His hair was dark blue, like his eyes, and he wore a kid's hospital gown. There were some band-aids on his face and hands. It looked like something had roughed him up. And he was staring directly at Hamuko.

No surprise there, he must have woken up when the demon made her way through the room. And now he was seeing her glowing red eyes in the dark, which must have looked menacing to the child. Or maybe not? Hamuko herself had never been in a state of shock. As such, she wasn't sure how the child's brain perceived the situation. Not that it mattered in the long run.

Nevertheless, Hamuko turned on the light of the nightstand, allowing the child to see that she was a human. Or at least make him believe she was a human. A succubus was after all a demon. The only reason Hamuko looked like a human right now was because of her magic.

The boy kept staring at the demon woman with an emotionless expression. Hamuko took a seat on the child's bed and proceeded to stroke through his hair with her fingers. The child didn't object, nor did he make any motion of resisting. On the contrary, he slightly leaned into the touch. Once again, this was no surprise. As a succubus, Hamuko naturally attracted mortals of male sexuality, no matter how old they were. Children, of course, weren't interested in sexual intercourse. Instead, it was more a motherly or sisterly attraction they were feeling.

For a while stroking the boy's hair was all Hamuko did. She wanted him to get entirely comfortable with her presence before she proceeded any further. While the boy didn't make any facial expression that the succubus could read off, she could still see his chest rising and falling, plus she could feel the stiffness of his body. Once the breathing slowed down a considerable level, Hamuko laid down right next to the boy. The bed was large enough for two adults or three children to fit in.

Once again, the boy didn't give or make any sign of protest. He allowed the fully clothed woman to come under the covers and press his head against her chest, where he could hear her heartbeat. The two remained like this for a little while. The entire time Hamuko never ceased her stroking of the boy's hair. She made sure he wouldn't close his eyes and fall asleep on her because this wasn't what she wanted.

She began to kiss the boy. Not on the lips mind you, but on the cheeks, the forehead and at one time even his nose. Her kisses didn't last long, one or two seconds at most. They weren't passionate in any way, rather they of the soft and loving kind, something a mother would do to her child, before tugging it into bed.

By the time the body started to wrap his arms around the succubus, she knew she had him. Seemingly out of nowhere, Hamuko stopped caressing the boy and began to detach herself from him. She got out of bed, adjusted her clothing a little, and started to walk out of the room, seemingly ignoring the boy and the pleading look he was sending her. She was almost at the door, her hand reaching for the knob when she could hear a faint thud echoing through the room. This was followed by the tab-tab-tab sounds naked human feet made when hitting the hospital floor. When the sound stopped, the succubus turned around and found the blue-haired boy looking up to her expectantly. The demon kneeled and gave the boy a kind smile.

"Do you want me to stay?" she asked in a sweet tone. The boy didn't answer, nor did he nod. But Hamuko knew the answer. Why else would the boy follow her out of bed? This was probably the most love he had received in quite some time. Most humans didn't know how to handle vegetables like him when most of them just needed a little bit of attachment. It was fairly evident that ever since his parents died, nobody had bothered giving him even an ounce. Or if they did, it was hardly enough.

"But that's not fair," Hamuko pouted. "I have given you so much love, and you have given me nothing in return." The boy kept staring at her with those empty eyes of his.

"Don't worry. I'm not asking for much."

She snapped her fingers, causing a contract to appear seemingly out of nowhere. This one was a little different from the one before. The first one had been tailored to the specifics of her client. The second one was what one would consider a rough draft. The demon had written this one some time ago and saved up on her PC to use it as a blueprint when writing contracts. She always kept a couple of copies in case of situations like this one.

"All you have to give me is your soul." As if the boy knew what a soul was. He may have heard of it in some children's cartoon or other, but comprehending what it meant to give up one's soul? Nine out of ten times, the demon would get the soul, no questions asked.

"All you have to do is write your name down here," Hamuko pointed at the appropriate line, before taking her pen out. "Do you know how to write your name?"

He could as it turned out, although it was very messy writing. Clearly, the boy had never used a pen before, and after shoving it to the boy's hand, he knelt down and carefully written his name down on the paper. The characters ended up all over the place, but they were readable: Minato Arisato.

Hamuko was slightly surprised that the boy even added his last name. Clearly, he was a bright kid. Too bad, it would be over for him soon. After adding her own name to the contract, Hamuko grinned devilishly and made the paper disappear.

"Thank you so much, Minato-chan. Now then," she swooped up the boy in her arms and walked over to the bed, where she let herself fall on the mattress. "It's time I keep my promise, don't you think?" And by "promise," she meant doing whatever she wanted to the boy. Because that was what the contract allowed her to do.

Looking forward to a (hopefully) proper feeding session, the succubus began the process of extracting the boy's soul. Only three seconds later, she jolted right back, her eyes widening in shock. The stream of blue energy quickly ebbed up, but that was the least of Hamuko's concerns.

The demon felt like she had just taken in ten energy drinks at once. Her heart was beating at a rapid pace, her arms tightened around the boy to the point where it became uncomfortable, and a brief flicker in the air made it apparent that she almost revealed her true form. The boy, in the meantime, looked at the woman below him, probably worried she would go away again. If he had such worries, they were quickly squashed by the woman smashing her lips on his and sucking a good chunk of the boy's soul out of his body. Being only six years old, the boy barely registered his body becoming very weak before his world turned black.

Feeling the boy becoming a lump of meat in her arms, Hamuko immediately, though very reluctantly, ceased her feeding of the boy's soul and stared at him. This boy wasn't normal. No human she ever fed upon had ever had such a vast soul as this one. And he was only a boy! A child! Not even a teenager! To compare their souls to human food, they would be of the size of a single chicken wing. But Hamuko felt like she had just started diving headfirst into an all buffet!

"What in the seven circles of hell are you?" she asked in a whisper. Naturally, the boy didn't give her a response. How could he? Even if he was awake, she doubted he knew why he had a soul such as his. It was not only the size of his soul but also the taste. The succubus cannot remember ever tasting something like this in her life. Whatever it was, on the one hand, it sent shivers down her spine. But on the other hand it was so addicting she was afraid no other soul would ever be able to satisfy her taste buds.

Luck was on this boy's side. He just went from a quick snack to a long-term project. She needed to find out what made the boy so special if there were more mortals like him out there and how to pick them out from one another. Her mouth watered by the sheer imagination of having more humans like Minato to feed upon.

"One step at a time," Hamuko reminded herself. First things first, she needed to calm her rapidly beating heart down. After achieving this, she made sure to tug the boy into bed and give him one last kiss on the forehead.

There was much for her to do. She needed to find out more about the boy. The circumstances of his parent's death, his current family situation, get a psychological profile and get a couple of vodka bottles, because, holy hell, she needed some help digesting what she just swallowed.


End file.
